Mal Fichman

Mal Fichman

• Height 5' 6", Weight 155 lb.
• School New York University
• Born November 28, 1942 in Boise, ID USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Manager Mal Fichman won three consecutive Frontier League championships with three different teams. He captured the first in 1994 with the Erie Sailors, added another with the Johnstown Steal in 1995, and won a third title in 1996 with the Springfield Capitals.

Prior to that he had made a speciality of managing unaffiliated teams in the lower minors. He had some good success certain years, including taking the Erie Sailors to the New York-Penn League finals in 1990, and much less other years, including a season with the Rocky Mount Pines in 1980 that ranks among the worst of the past 50 years in minor league baseball. In between stints, he ran a baseball school in Florida with Lou Haneles that looked to prepare players overlooked in the amateur draft for a career in minor league baseball. This baseball school was one of the main sources for players that Haneles, as owner, and Fichman, as manager, used to stock their teams in 1979-1980. Fichman's knack for finding overlooked talent became a real asset in the mid 1990s with the development of the Independent Leagues.

After 2000, Fichman was hired as a scout by the San Diego Padres to look for talent in the independent leagues. He did very well in this new capacity, and was later hired by the Philadelphia Phillies. In 2011 Fichman is the coordinator of independent league scouting for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

As a scout, he signed Dale Thayer, Matt Stocco, Jon Knott, Stephen Spragg, Adam Kudryk and Chris Oxspring.

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1979	Newark Co-Pilots	New York-Penn League	32-39	6th	none
1980	Rocky Mount Pines	Carolina League	24-114	8th	none
1987	Boise Hawks	Northwest League	17-21	8th	none		replaced Derrel Thomas (9-29) July 26
1988	Boise Hawks	Northwest League	30-46	7th	none
1989	Boise Hawks	Northwest League	35-40	5th	none
1990	Erie Sailors	New York-Penn League	44-33	3rd	none	Lost League Finals
1991	Reno Silver Sox	California League	59-77	7th	none
1993	Duluth-Superior Dukes	Northern League	31-41	6th	Independent Leagues
1994	Erie Sailors	Frontier League	42-25	2nd	Independent Leagues	League Champs
1995	Johnstown Steal	Frontier League	46-23	1st	Independent Leagues	League Champs
1996	Springfield Capitals	Frontier League	39-35	4th (t)	Independent Leagues	League Champs
1997	Springfield Capitals	Frontier League	42-39	5th	Independent Leagues
1998	Springfield Capitals	Frontier League	48-29	1st	Independent Leagues	League Champs
1999	Johnstown Johnnies	Frontier League	43-41	3rd (t)	Independent Leagues	Lost in 1st round